If You Had A Choice
Scripture: Deuteronomy 28:9-10, 15, 68
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you...13 If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them...15 however, if you do not obey...68The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you."
Observations:
Moses here draws a line in the sand for God's people that would mark the difference between God's blessing or His curse. On one side was option 1: obedience; on the other side option 2: disobedience. Moses gave them the option to either obey God's instruuctions and be blesssed or refuse them and be cursed. However, what's frightening here is that the curses listed here outweigh the blessings 4 to 1! Part of the reason God painted such a bleak picture of His curses was to serve as a warning that would cause them to fear Him. Even worse, God actually goes so far as to threaten to send them back to Egypt in boats if they refused to follow His commands!!
Application:
While these specific terms of Israel's covenant relationship with God no longer apply to us, the principles behind them still hold true for all believers. It's God's desire to bless us, but how much we are blessed is always contingent upon our obedience. On the other hand, God has no problem punishing sin when He see it in our lives. In fact, His discipline on our sin is even more severe and far reaching than His blessings on our obedience. Why? Because God loves us too much to allow sin to destroy us. However, He understands that our choices will ultimate determine whether He will bless or curse our lives. But without fail, in every situation in life, choosing option #1 will always lead us to blessing. It's really up to us to decide how blessed we want to be!
Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving us enough to give us a say in the outcome of our lives and for Your mercy towards us. Help us to always choose obedience in every situation and to never turn from following Your commands. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you...13 If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them...15 however, if you do not obey...68The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you."
Observations:
Moses here draws a line in the sand for God's people that would mark the difference between God's blessing or His curse. On one side was option 1: obedience; on the other side option 2: disobedience. Moses gave them the option to either obey God's instruuctions and be blesssed or refuse them and be cursed. However, what's frightening here is that the curses listed here outweigh the blessings 4 to 1! Part of the reason God painted such a bleak picture of His curses was to serve as a warning that would cause them to fear Him. Even worse, God actually goes so far as to threaten to send them back to Egypt in boats if they refused to follow His commands!!
Application:
While these specific terms of Israel's covenant relationship with God no longer apply to us, the principles behind them still hold true for all believers. It's God's desire to bless us, but how much we are blessed is always contingent upon our obedience. On the other hand, God has no problem punishing sin when He see it in our lives. In fact, His discipline on our sin is even more severe and far reaching than His blessings on our obedience. Why? Because God loves us too much to allow sin to destroy us. However, He understands that our choices will ultimate determine whether He will bless or curse our lives. But without fail, in every situation in life, choosing option #1 will always lead us to blessing. It's really up to us to decide how blessed we want to be!
Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving us enough to give us a say in the outcome of our lives and for Your mercy towards us. Help us to always choose obedience in every situation and to never turn from following Your commands. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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